- Easy to learn and use
- Includes helpful accessories
- Kids can use in groups, with an adult, or independently
- Requires paved outdoor area
- You pay for something you could create on your own
- Some courses require extra materials (such as jump rope)
- Book of 15 activity courses designed to be drawn with sidewalk chalk
- Each course encourages kids to do fitness activities such as jumping, skipping, squatting, running, and hopping
- Book comes with two pieces of chalk and a ruler printed on the back
- Courses are designed by a mom who is also a fitness instructor
If you have kids, you have sidewalk chalk, right? It comes in almost every birthday party goodie bag and then seems to multiply in our cupboards. I don't mind, because we can always use it. For years I have been chalking out mazes, tricycle tracks, hopscotch courts, and start/finish lines for running races on our driveway.
But it never occurred to me to take those mazes and race courses one step further and add extra activities to them to encourage fitness. Instead of just running from here to there, how about starting with hopscotch, moving into a wide-legged tire run, doing a few one-legged hops, and then finishing with a good old-fashioned sprint? That's how the activity courses in Coursing Around work.
The book lays out 15 courses, each one incorporating fun moves such as windmill toe touches, butterfly kicks, and downhill skiing-style jumps. (Not to worry, it also includes instructions for all these moves too.) Some require additional equipment, such as hand weights (homemade are fine), hula hoops, basketballs, or jump ropes, but many can be done with no gear at all.
The book's creator, Debbie Tougas, is the mother of two young children and is a certified fitness instructor and personal trainer. She was inspired to create the courses when she taught a fitness class for overweight kids with no access to equipment beyond a blacktop.
My children and I tested out the courses in our backyard and give them the thumbs-up. They are designed for kids ages 4 and up and they can be adapted to challenge children of many ages, abilities, and activity levels. You can also take the basic elements and mix and match any way you like, for endless variety. This book makes a nice addition to our collection of active, outdoor toys.
